How Advanced Can We Get?

There a lot of ways you can measure how advanced a civilization is. One of the measurements is with the help The Kardashev Scale. 

The Kardashev scale

The Kardashev scale focuses on the amount of energy that a civilization is able to utilize. Notably, the amount of power available to a civilization is linked to how widespread the civilization is, like where it is populated and how much of the Universe is consumed by the civilization.

Subglobal Culture

This civilization gets its energy and materials from crude organic-based sources such as wood, coal, and oil. Any rockets utilized by such a civilization would necessarily depend on chemical propulsion. Since such travel is so pitifully slow, a civilization at this level would be (for the most part) confined to its home planet. This is about where we are. We haven’t quite made it to a planetary culture yet. 

Planetary Culture

This civilization would be slightly more advanced than us. They would be capable of utilizing all available resources on their home planet, skillfully harnessing the energy output of an entire world, about 10^15 watts. We will reach this stage in 100-200 years. So maybe your grandkids will be around to see it.

Stellar Culture

This civilization would be a few thousand years ahead of us. Far more advanced than we are. Such a society would be able to harnesses all the energy of its star, about 10^26 watts. This culture might resemble the Federation of Planets, as seen on Star Trek.

Galactic Culture

This civilization would be able to harnesses the energy output of a galaxy. This is about 10 billion times the energy output of a Stellar culture, and about 100,000 to 1 million years more advanced than us. They have colonized the galaxy itself, extracting energy from hundreds of billions of stars, traveling across interstellar space and populating many worlds. Something like the Empire from Star Wars.

Universal Culture 

This civilization would be an intergalactic culture, spread far in the Universe. Travel across the cosmos, commanding the power of a billion trillion suns would be no big deal. These societies would be capable of attempting projects of gargantuan, superhuman proportions, such as changing the structure of space-time or the deliberate slowing of entropy to achieve ultimate immortality. For us, such accomplishments might be forever beyond our reach. This level may be achievable only by incorporeal beings, such as members of Star Trek’s Q Continuum. 

Multiverse Culture

This civilization will have transcended their universe of origin. It would be capable of universe-scale manipulation like jumping between multiverses that contain varied forms of matter, physics, and space-time (Like Rick and Morty). A civilization such as this would be home to beings of unimaginable power and ability.